Synthetic Realness

When something looks and feels real enough to pass… but you know deep down it’s manufactured. Can apply to AI influencers, staged “candid” photos, or that brand new dive bar that spent millions to look old and grimy.

My office has a 'fun zone' with bean bags and foosball. It’s all synthetic realness to distract from the 12-hour workdays.

by GuyWhoWritesDefinitions September 02, 2025

Semantic Drift

When words stop meaning what they used to. Over time, phrases get watered down, co-opted, or twisted until they lose their original punch. Think “literally,” “authentic,” or “disruption.”

Startup bros calling every idea ‘disruptive’ is just semantic drift in action.

by GuyWhoWritesDefinitions September 04, 2025

Reality Drift

The subtle feeling that the world around you is slightly fake, off, or slipping out of sync. A cultural vertigo caused by algorithms, endless feeds, and manufactured experiences that blur the line between what’s authentic and what’s engineered.

Scrolling through TikTok at 2 a.m. and realizing every trend feels staged gave me major reality drift.

by GuyWhoWritesDefinitions September 02, 2025

The Great Flattening

The feeling that everything in culture is starting to look and sound the same. Movies, memes, brands, even people online are flattened into the same vibe by algorithms and mass production.

Scrolling TikTok is like living inside The Great Flattening. Different faces, same sounds.

by GuyWhoWritesDefinitions September 04, 2025

Optimization Trap

When trying to improve everything actually makes life worse. The endless tweaking, tracking, and hacking that leaves you more stressed than before. Productivity apps, fitness gadgets, even parenting advice—sometimes “optimizing” just optimizes the anxiety.

I bought five different apps to manage my schedule, and now I don’t have time to do anything. Classic optimization trap.

by GuyWhoWritesDefinitions September 04, 2025

Semantic Fidelity

When words still carry their original meaning instead of getting twisted by algorithms, brands, or culture. The opposite of when “authentic” somehow means staged. High semantic fidelity = language actually says what it means.

“Bro, that ad copy has zero semantic fidelity. It’s like reading a chatbot trained on vibes.”

by GuyWhoWritesDefinitions September 04, 2025

Filter Fatigue

The exhaustion that hits when you can’t tell if anything online is real anymore: faces, food pics, even sunsets. It’s when the endless stream of filters, edits, and AI touch-ups makes your brain tired of decoding what’s authentic.

Bro, I didn’t even swipe on Tinder tonight. Total filter fatigue. Everyone looked like they were generated in a lab.

by GuyWhoWritesDefinitions September 02, 2025